Zambia targets zero HIV infection through male circumcision

Lusaka: The Zambian government has targeted at recording zero new HIV/AIDS infections through enforcing voluntary circumcision of about two million men by 2020, state media reported on Wednesday.

Deputy Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya said the government has placed emphasis on prevention strategies that would contribute towards reduction in new HIV infections through various programmes including male circumcision, Xinhua reported.

"These HIV prevent programmes are aimed at reducing infections, with a target to reduce from 1.6 percent to 0.8 percent," he was quoted as saying by the Times of Zambia.

In remarks delivered during the launch of the voluntary male circumcision plan, which runs from 2016 to 2020, Chilufya said the exercise was found to be one of the effective prevention strategies and studies showed that male circumcision reduced a man's chances of contracting HIV by about 60 percent.

Zambia has one of the highest HIV prevalence rate in sub-Sahara Africa, with 13 percent of its population aged from 15 to 49 having the virus.